r/nextfuckinglevel • u/matori_tester • 1d ago

Billionaire speaker Robert F. Smith tells 400 graduates he's paying off all their student loans ($40 million in total)

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u/EdwardBigby 1d ago

I hope people don't take this the wrong way but as a non American I'm slightly confused why there's a college where everybody seems to be black (also an Asian lady sitting behind the speaker)

I assume it's in a mostly black area but is it a case of no white people applying for this college or the college not accepting any white people? Or maybe I'm just missing the white people

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u/YoRt3m 1d ago

Yeah I noticed that too. I checked their website and it seems like all the photos are of black people too. a bit weird I would say, even with historical context. I assume non-black can join tho, hard to believe it's discriminatory, but still weird and obviously the other way around would be more than just "weird"

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u/EdwardBigby 1d ago

Other commenter explained it. I had never heard of HBCUs

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u/YoungCubSaysWoof 1d ago

Thank you for asking your question with genuine curiosity. (And thanks to the others who commented with genuine desires to teach and share some knowledge.)

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u/YoRt3m 1d ago

Yeah me too. it makes sense. still, seperating people by color\race seems weird in modern days

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u/This-Is-Voided 1d ago

Please Google the history of HBCUs, racism, and just Black history in general.

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u/YoRt3m 1d ago

okay

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u/Legal_Guava3631 1d ago

No one is being separated purposely. Anyone can go.

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u/YoRt3m 1d ago

I know and understand.

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u/ZackWzorek 1d ago

I think where you’re getting flak is you’re loading your comments with “weird” and then saying “I know and understand.” These two things are contradictory, and the subject of HBCU’s are a touchy subject where it “appears” you’re implying some form of racially motivated behavior towards HBCU’s even after having the full context explained to you. So, in good faith, and not trying to get a gotcha or pin you down, I am genuinely curious to know your perspective of what makes it “weird in a modern context”?

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u/YoRt3m 1d ago

I know that there's history of racism in the US. for the first time, in this post, I learned that it caused the establishment of institutions for blacks only (I didn't read the entire wiki page of this, just heard this concept for the first time). yet, expecting entirely black institutions to still exists today seems weird to me. I understand that it's not only for blacks, but the video is showing me a crowd of blacks only and it looks weird. is it racist? no. is it bad? no. that's just not something I knew existed and I'm not used to it.

Maybe I expected that after the racist laws were removed, those institutions will cease to exists and all groups will mix with each other. just a different mindset I guess

I don't care about the flak much, this is Reddit and people judge other people very easily

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u/ZackWzorek 1d ago

Racism is far more complicated than “just laws.” Even Americans don’t understand that. Racism is a systemic and societal phenomenon that is a part of all cultures, I bet even wherever you’re from, that afflicts the overall human condition.

We abolished slavery after it being apart of our legal system since the 1660s/1690s (Maryland/VA) where laws stated white people couldn’t marry freed “Indians” and Black Americans.

This has cascaded for nearly 300 years and after the 13th amendment abolished slavery. The Civil Rights Act went through iterations that sought to tackle former politicians and confederates becoming KKK terrorist killing mass amounts of Black Americans in the south to keep them from voting, to desegregate public places (and, failing twice until 1964, because Plessy V. Ferguson “revealed separate but equal laws in the 14th amendment”). I mean shit brother man, Black Americans couldn’t legally marry White Americans in Alabama until as recently as 2000, 25 years ago.

Now we have DEI attacks that are removing war heroes from our national archives because they’re black.

Our administration has openly supported the KKK rallies in Kentucky. The Neo Nazis in Ohio. And, are now mass deporting any brown person acting against the regime. Crowds of Black People shouldn’t be weird. If anything it should be celebrated that they’re allowed to congregate together without fear of being mobbed. Thats what happened to Black people in Tulsa in 1921.

The overall point, if you’re unsure of why this is okay and it makes you feel a certain way, and you’re not American, don’t load it with weird. Ask your questions, because there are some real proud Americans who know their history, and we’ll tell you.

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u/YoRt3m 1d ago

Sometimes you ask explanation on Reddit and it's getting political and that's not a way to learn things.

As for the topic itself. This is a Reddit post and my reaction for me to realize there's an institution for blacks only is "weird" even if it comes from lack of knowledge. that's my honest reaction and I'm entitled to make it.

if I will take an average stranger and show him a religious ritual people do in my community, holding leaves and shaking them in circles, they might think it's weird and that's okay. I can then explain to them why we do it for hundreds of years if they're interested. there's nothing offensive about it for me. We also have religious institutions which might look very weird to people that might not know why is it necessary and it might look weird or even discriminatory but for other people it's natural.

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u/buckeyes404_ 1d ago

Well once you "understand" it should cease to be "weird".

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u/ZackWzorek 1d ago

Black oppression in the United States is political. The establishment of race, which stemmed from the United States - the leader of the western world - was made to be political. The things in which the community you’re commenting on, and calling weird, are facing, are political.

If you do not have the aptitude or the capacity to comprehend that, or to navigate those social structures, then do not comment on them.

Most Americans even have the capacity (at least near the coast, and in the north) to respect religious beliefs that aren’t Judaism in rootedness to not call it weird or question it regardless of inquiry.

At this point you sound both defensive, and hostile, and no longer willing to engage.

I would kindly ask you to take time to learn about the Black American history before further commenting. Have a good day.

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u/jittery_raccoon 1d ago edited 1d ago

These days it's not about separation. HBCUs have built a very strong culture among HBCU alumni. So people are attending for the advantages of the community.

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u/Raf-the-derp 1d ago

I get what you're saying but at the end of the day it doesn't matter tbh. I'm pretty sure there are predominantly white colleges all over America (BYU in Utah) .

Obviously if there were colleges that were promoted as "white only" that would be seen as a problem but that's because of our countries history .

My unpopular opinion is college clubs that are about race. For example the Hispanic club (I'm Hispanic) imo when you go to college and join those clubs it's like you don't want to leave your bubble

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u/probablytoohonest 1d ago

Any club is meant to be your bubble. It could be cheese club and people would join because they want to hang out with others who share their interest in cheese. Being interested in promoting and learning about one's heritage with others who share that heritage is not a problem. Jesus what am I still doing on Reddit

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u/Raf-the-derp 1d ago

Was moreso talking about what if I wanted to join one of those clubs? One of my friends is in the Filipino club it and they seem to go on nice events but I'd feel weird if I ask if I can join. Again, I said that's my unpopular opinion

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u/probablytoohonest 1d ago

Ah, I get that. Sounds like the problem is you're afraid to step out of your bubble. I shouldn't have assumed, be well

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u/DaddyDontTakeNoMess 1d ago

There are people of all races at HBCUs.

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u/Claude9777 1d ago

You are correct. Non-black people can and do attend. Many of them getting scholarships to attend for not being black. I attended a predominantly white institution. One of the first black people to attend happened to be the mother of my friend. It was only in 1966. When I was there in 1995, I had classes with over 100 people and I'd be the only black person. On a campus of 30,000, there were a total of 800 black people.

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u/jittery_raccoon 1d ago

White people are allowed to attend and there are some that do. It's not weird because people choose these colleges for the cultural experience. Like they have a niche and everyone that wants to receive their education in that niche goes there.

A different example of choosing a school for college is kids choosing to attend Big Ten schools, which are schools with top athletic programs. These schools are also known as party schools and have huge campuses. The non athlete kids choose it for the college culture aspect.

We have so many schools in the US that choosing your school for the culture it offers is normal